A tornado rolled through southern Indiana in Greene County in May. Photo by Ashley Inman.

By Nathan Pace
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — If you think the state of Indiana has been under gun of severe weather more in 2025, the numbers back the theory up. As of Friday, June 13, Indiana has experienced 56 tornadoes in 2025. More than double the typical average the state has in a year. Indiana is on pace to break the record number of 72 tornadoes confirmed in 2011.

Lonnie Fisher is the assistant warning coordination meteorologistat the National Weather Service, Northern Indiana Weather Forecasting Office. He admits there is no definitive reason for the increased tornado activity in 2025.

“There are all kinds of possible theories. A La Niña winter as we transition to spring, coming out of that makes it a more active pattern,” Fisher said. “Most likely that is allowing more moisture to come up. The clash with the air masses, means more chances for showers and thunderstorms.”

Most of tornadoes that have impacted the state have focused on Southern Indiana but two twisters have touched down in the local area with the first Wednesday, March 19, near Akron and also Wednesday, April 2, in Bourbon.

“The past three years, we’ve had at least one severe weather outbreak, right in that very late March to early April window. This year, we had two events in that window,” Fisher said.

The nickname “Tornado Alley” typically refers to tornadoes occurring in the Great Plains, but Fisher said he and other meteorologists feel the phrase makes those in Indiana minimize the threat tornadoes can impose locally.

“We are trying to get away from that quote unquote “Tornado Alley.” They can happen everywhere and everyday,” Fisher said.

Located on the Continental Divide between North Webster and Syracuse, the National Weather Service, Northern Indiana Weather Forecasting Office issues tornado warnings for the area. Photo by Nathan Pace.

Improved Reporting

Part of the reason why more tornadoes have been reported is the technology for finding them has improved. Fisher said that has not always been the case.

“If you go back in time, there were tornadoes that occurred that we didn’t know about. A farmer would later find a path of damage in a cornfield and wonder how it happened. The reporting of tornadoes have improved dramatically,” he said.

This year marks 60 years since the Palm Sunday tornadoes that ran through Elkhart County and northern Indiana. At the time, the tornado warning system was still being developed. The tornado warning system we know of today was merely called “a tornado forecast.”

“They had radar that they looked at back then and it gave them information but it couldn’t tell them intensity of the storms,” Fisher said. “They could only warn if they had the hook echo but by the time they could see that hook echo, it was already on the ground.”

Issuing A Warning

Fisher explained tornado warnings in our area do originate from the Northern Indiana Weather Forecasting Office, located between Syracuse and North Webster on SR 13.

“The national weather service, as a whole, is the sole source for issuing a tornado and severe thunderstorm warning. When we issue the warning, it is sent out from the transmission lines and sent out to a variety of sources. A lot of it is automated,” Fisher said.

The warnings then immediately pop up on weather maps for local newscasts in their coverage of storm activity.

While Indiana is currently experiencing a tornado boom, Fisher can’t tell yet if 2025 is future trend or an outlier.

“It’s kind of hard to tell if this is the new norm,” Fisher said, “Meteorologists like to look at a 30-year sample size.”

The Doppler radar tower by the Northern Indiana Weather Forecasting Office serves to alert the National Weather Service of severe weather. Photo by Nathan Pace.